England captain Steven Gerrard believes the influx of foreigners into the
English game is making it harder for young players to break through at top
clubs.

New Football Association chairman Greg Dyke stated his concern over the amount of imports into the Premier League in his first major speech last month and announced the setting up of a commission to look into the problem of dwindling English players in the top flight.

Raheem Sterling and Andre Wisdom have both managed to make an impact alongside Gerrard at Liverpool in recent seasons but the Reds skipper admits that competition from overseas talent, coupled with the desire for instant success, is making it more and more difficult for managers to take risks.

"Managers are only ever eight to 10 days away from the sack so to take risks on unknown young players is difficult," he told BBC Breakfast.

"I mean (Liverpool manager) Brendan Rodgers has been fantastic at this club because he's been brave and he's given young players a chance.

"But there's no two ways about it, it's a lot more difficult to break through nowadays because of the standard of players and because there is a lot more foreigners about.